This North American Indian legend
might be a good campfire tale for Cubs.

Long ago, the people had no fire
and no light. They suffered and shivered during the cold of winter and had to
eat their food uncooked. Even worse, they lived in darkness all the time.

There was no sun or moon or stars
in the sky. A great chief kept them locked up in boxes and took great pride in
the thought that he alone had light.

The great chief had a beautiful
daughter and was very proud of her, too. All the people loved her.

Now, in those days, Raven had
magic powers. He was a great friend of the people and the chief. He wondered how
he might make their life more comfortable. One day, he saw the chief’s daughter
come down to the stream for a drink. He had an idea. He put a magic spell on her
and, in time, she had a son.

The old chief was delighted and,
as the boy grew, his grandfather became devoted to him. He gave his grandson
anything he wanted.

One day, the child asked the old
chief for the box containing the stars. Although he didn’t like the idea, the
chief could not deny his grandson. He gave him the box.

The child played with the box for
awhile, tossing it and rolling it around. Then, he opened it, released the
stars, and flung them into the sky. The people were happy. Now they had a little
light, although it still wasn’t much.

After a few days, the child asked
the old chief for the box that held the moon. Again the old chief hesitated, but
again the boy got what he wanted. And, as before, he played with the box awhile,
then opened it, released the moon, and flung it into the sky. The people were
very happy to have even more light. Still, it was not a lot, and the moon
disappeared for long periods of time.

Finally, one day the child asked
his grandfather for the box that held the sun. “No,” the chief said. “I cannot
give you that.” But the boy wept and pleaded, and the old chief could not stand
his tears. He gave his grandson the box. This time, the boy didn’t even play
with it first. As soon as he could, he released the sun and cast it into the
sky.

The people were overjoyed. Now
they had plenty of light and heat, too. They ordered a feast of the sun, and all
the people celebrated with great jubilation.

Even the old chief was happy. He
had not known that the sun, the moon, and the stars could mean so much to the
comfort and happiness of his people. And, for the first time, he thoroughly
enjoyed himself, too.

The Story of
Squanto

Supplied by Alice, Golden Empire
Council

Various versions of the story of
Squanto can be found in thousands of places on the internet. Alice said she
thinks this one is one of the best. And it ties the theme, Indian Nations in
with Thanksgiving so it is theme related and timely, too!! CD

Two months after the Pilgrims
arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts in November, 1620, they were astonished and
a little frightened when an Indian named Samoset, walked into their midst and
greeted them in English. After Samoset had led several tradings with the
Pilgrims, he told the Wampanoag that the Pilgrims wanted to make a peace with
them. Massasoit sent Tisquantum to be interpreter, and on March 22, 1621, the
Pilgrims met Squanto for the first time. That day, he negotiated a peace treaty
between Massasoit and the Wampanoag, and John Carver and the Pilgrims. They
agreed they would not harm each other, and they became a military alliance as
well, so if one were attacked, the other would come to their aid.

Here’s the story of how an
American Indian was able to speak English to the Pilgrims:. Tisquantum, called
Squanto by the Pilgrims, was a native of the Patuxet tribe, and Plymouth was the
center of their tribal lands. English sailors had been exploring the coasts of
America for many years – and in 1605, Captain George Weymouth came to check out
Canadian and New England regions for resources of interest to his English
merchant backers. Thinking they would like to see some Indians, he kidnapped
two of them very brutally.

He already had three other
Indians, which had been bribed with a can of peas and some bread – when one of
them, probably Tisquantum, “brought back our can presently and staid (sp) aboard
with the other two, (he)….received exceeding kind usage at our hands…(since he
was the one)… we most desired to bring with us to England.” In England,
Tisquantum lived with Sir Ferdinando Gorges, who taught him some English and
hired him to be a guide and interpreter for his sea captains. In 1614,
Tisquantum assisted some of Gorges’ men, including John Smith, in mapping the
Cape Code region. Once Smith sailed away, Captain Thomas Hunt, who had been
left in charge, tricked 20 Nauset and 7 Patuxet Indians into coming on board his
ship and kidnapped them – since Tisquantum was on board to interpret, he was
also kidnapped. They were bound, and sailed to Malaga, Spain, where Hunt tried
to sell them for slaves at £20 apiece. Some local Friars, however, discovered
what was happening and took the remaining Indians from Hunt in order to instruct
them in the Chirstian faith, thus "disappointing this unworthy fellow of the
hopes of gain he conceived to make by this new & devilish project".

Tisquantum lived with the Friars
until 1618, when he sailed to Newfoundland on a ship from Bristol. When
Tisquantum arrived, however, he was recognized by Captain Thomas Dermer, who
wrote Sir Gorges that he had “found his Indian” and asked what he should do
with him. Dermer brought Tisquantum back to Gorges, who boarded the Indian with
Sir John Slainey, treasurer of the Newfoundland Company. Eventually, both
Dermer and Tisquantum were sent back to New England to trade with the coastal
Indians, who had refused to trade with Hunt after their tribal members had been
kidnapped. Dermer and Tisquantum worked together mapping resources along the New
England coast. In 1619, when they reached Patuxet, they found the entire tribe
had been wiped out by a plague in 1617. Since Tisquantum was the only Patuxet
Indian left alive, he joined a neighboring tribe living at Pkanoket, the home of
Massasoit, and taught English to some of them. Dermer continued on, but Nauset
Indians attacked his crew at Cape Cod, and Dermer was taken hostage. Squanto
came to his friend's aid, and negotiated his safe release. Dermer would later
be attacked by Indians near Martha's Vineyard, and would die of his wounds after
reaching Virginia.

After meeting the Pilgrims,
Tisquantum lived out the rest of his life in the Plymouth Colony. He taught the
them how to manure their corn for a better crop, where to catch fish and eels,
and acted as their interpreter and guide. Without Squanto's help, the Pilgrims
would probably have had severe famine over the next year, and would have lived
in constant fear of their Indian neighbors--Indians who were actually quite
peaceful, but who had been rightfully angered by the cruel treatment of English
ship captains like Thomas Hunt.

Tisquantum did not help the
Pilgrims solely because he was a nice and caring individual. By late 1621 he
was using his position with the Pilgrims for his own gain--threatening many
Indians that if they did not do as he told them, he would have the Pilgrims
"release the plague" against them. As with all humans, "power corrupts". When
Massasoit learned that Tisquantum was abusing his position to steal power, he
demanded Squanto be turned over to him to be executed. The Pilgrims were
required to turn Squanto over, according to the peace treaty they had signed
with one another. But the Pilgrims felt they needed Squanto's services, so they
stalled--until an English ship came onto the horizon, and distracted everyone's
attention for awhile.

But in November 1622, while on a
trading expedition to the Massachusetts Indians, Tisquantum came down with
Indian fever, his nose began to bleed, and he died. Governor William Bradford,
perhaps Squanto's closest friend and associate among the Pilgrims, wrote the
following about his sudden death: “In this place Squanto fell sick of an Indian
fever, bleeding much at the nose (which the Indians take for a symptom of death)
and within a few days died there; desiring the Governor to pray for him that he
might go to the Englishman’s God in Heaven; and bequeathed sundry of his things
to sundry of his English friends as remembrances of his love; of whom they had
great loss.”

It was an
early winter, cold enough so that the ice had frozen on all the ponds and Bear,
who had not yet learned in those days that it was wiser to sleep through the
White Season, grumbled as he walked through the woods. Perhaps he was
remembering a trick another animal had played on him, perhaps he was just not in
a good mood. It happened that he came to the edge of a great pond and saw Turtle
there with his head sticking out of the ice.

"Hah,"
shouted Bear, not even giving his old friend a greeting. "What are you looking
at, Slow One?"

Turtle
looked at Bear. "Why do you call me slow?"

Bear
snorted. "You are the slowest of the animals. If I were to race you, I would
leave you far behind." Perhaps Bear never heard of Turtle's big race with Beaver
and perhaps Bear did not remember that Turtle, like Coyote, is an animal whose
greatest speed is in his wits.

"My
friend," Turtle said, "let us have a race to see who is the swiftest."

"All
right," said Bear. "Where will we race?"

"We will
race here at this pond and the race will be tomorrow morning when the sun is the
width of one hand above the horizon. You will run along the banks of the pond
and I will swim in the water."

"How can
that be?" Bear said. "There is ice all over the pond."

"We will do
it this way," said Turtle. "I will make holes in the ice along the side of the
pond and swim under the water to each hole and stick my head out when I reach
it."

"I agree,"
said Bear. "Tomorrow we will race."

When the
next day came, many of the other animals had gathered to watch. They lined the
banks of the great pond and watched Bear as he rolled in the snow and jumped up
and down making himself ready.

Finally,
just as the sun was a hand's width in the sky, Turtle's head popped out of the
hole in the ice at the starting line. "Bear," he called, "I am ready."

Bear walked
quickly to the starting place and as soon as the signal was given, he rushed
forward, snow flying from his feet and his breath making great white clouds
above his head. Turtle's head disappeared in the first hole and then in almost
no time at all reappeared from the next hole, far ahead of Bear.

"Here I am
Bear," Turtle called. "Catch up to me!" And then he was gone again. Bear was
astonished and ran even faster. But before he could reach the next hole, he saw
Turtle's green head pop out of it.

"Here I am,
Bear," Turtle called again. "Catch up to me!" Now bear began to run in earnest.
His sides were puffing in and out as he ran and his eyes were becoming
bloodshot, but it was no use. Each time, long before he would reach each of the
holes, the ugly green head of Turtle would be there ahead of him calling out to
him to catch up!

When Bear
finally reached the finish line, he was barely able to crawl. Turtle was waiting
there for him, surrounded by all the other animals. Bear had lost the race. He
dragged himself home in disgrace, so tired that he fell asleep as soon as he
reached his home. He was so tired that he slept until the warm breath of the
Spring came to the woods again.

It was not
long after Bear and all to other animals had left the pond that Turtle tapped on
the ice with one long claw. At his sign it a dozen ugly heads like his popped up
from the holes all along the edge of the pond. It was Turtle's cousins and
brothers, all of whom looked just like him!

"My
relatives," Turtle said, "I wish to thank you. Today we have shown Bear that it
does not pay to call other people names. We have taught him a good lesson."

Turtle
smiled and a dozen other turtles, all just like him, smiled back. "And we have
shown the other animals," Turtle said, "that Turtles are not the slowest of the
animals."

The Story of Running Deer

Heart of America
Council

This one is borderline on
culture but a lot of fun. I remember this story from my Cub Scout days. CD

Divide the audience into five
groups. Assign each of the groups one of the words below. Read the story. When
one of the designated words is read, the appropriate group makes the indicated
response. Practice as you make assignments.

Old Chief: Stand, raise
right hand and give a hearty “HOW!” in a low, loud voice.

Running Deer:
Place open hands on side of head to make deer antlers, and stomp feet as if
running.

Falling Rock:
Stand, make a short whistling sound, then sit down abruptly with a loud “BOOM!”.

Wilderness:
One group
howls like wolves; another raises swaying hands above head and make sound of
wind blowing through the trees.

Babbling Brook:
Makes noise like garbling water with head back until the story narrator
says….”Above the Waterfall”.

Long ago, there was
a small Native American village. In this village lived an OLD CHIEF with his two
sons, RUNNING DEER and FALLING ROCK (pause), above a waterfall.

The OLD CHIEF,
knowing he would not live forever, decided it was time to choose one of his sons
to take his place when the time came to pass on. “But, which one?” pondered the
OLD CHIEF, and he devised a plan:

RUNNING DEER and
FALLING ROCK were sent off into the WILDERNESS, far from the village-next to the
BABBLING BROOK (pause), above the waterfall. The OLD CHIEF had told the lads,
“The one of you who is able to live out longest in the WILDERNESS will take my
place as Chief”.

Much time passed.
The OLD CHIEF feared the worst, and began to worry. “How long will it be before
the return of RUNNING DEER and FALLING ROCK”? thought the OLD CHIEF.

Soon after, a member
of the tribe announced the approach of the beloved son, RUNNING DEER. The OLD
CHIEF was very happy, and threw a grand celebration. For his first son, RUNNING
DEER had returned to the village – next to the BABBLING BROOK (pause), above the
waterfall.

The ordeal was over,
and scouts were sent out into the WILDERNESS to find and return FALLING ROCK to
his village, where he would become Chief someday.

Many moons went by,
as happens in Native American stories. The OLD CHIEF, now passed on (sorry),
never saw the return of his younger son, FALLING ROCK. FALLING ROCK has never
returned from the WILDERNESS to his village- next to the BABBLING BROOK (pause),
above the waterfall. His brother, RUNNING DEER, still looks for him.

We know this
because, all along the highways and byways, we still see the signs (show sign if
you made one) WATCH FOR FALLING ROCK.

Chief Running Deer

Heart of America
Council

Divide the audience into eight
groups. Assign each of the groups one of the words below. Read the story. When
one of the designated words is read, the appropriate group makes the indicated
response. Practice as you make assignments.

COWBOY “Yippee!”

OLD PAINTBRUSH (Whinney)

CHIEF RUNNING DEER
(Makes war whoop)

SITTING BULL “Hee
Haw”

EMMA “Rattles stones
in tin”

TIMBER WOLF
“Howooooo”

SHERIFF “Bang”

DEPUTY “He went
that-a-way”

Once upon a time
there was a COWBOY who went out into the desert, riding his horse, OLD
PAINTBRUSH. Far off in the distance, he could hear the TIMBERWOLF. The COWBOY
made camp and fell fast asleep, after making sure OLD PAINTBRUSH was secure.

Now, creeping
through the desert was CHIEF RUNNING DEER riding his mule SITTING BULL. He was
being pursued by the SHERIFF and his DEPUTY. In his pocket, CHIEF RUNNING DEER
had his trained rattlesnake, EMMA, who was trained to creep up and bite the
COWBOY and his horse.

In the meantime, the
SHERIFF and his DEPUTY sprang their trap. “Halt, you are my prisoner!” shouted
the SHERIFF. The COWBOY woke up and mounted his horse, OLD PAINTBRUSH, which
frightened the TIMBER WOLF and EMMA.

Away went old CHIEF
RUNNING DEER on his faithful mule, SITTING BULL, and after them went the
SHERIFF, his DEPUTY, the COWBOY and OLD PAINTBRUSH. But old CHIEF RUNNING DEER
led them into a blind canyon, so that was the last anybody ever saw of the
COWBOY, OLD PAINTBRUSH, EMMA the rattlesnake, the TIMBER WOLF, the mule SITTING
BULL, the SHERIFF, or his DEPUTY.

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